Please join Women at Zynga, zPride, and The Voxel Collective for a panel discussion on creating supportive communities around you, organized by and for women and LGBTQ professionals who are passionate about building inclusive spaces in the game industry.
Beer, wine, sparkling juice, and tasty bites will be available at check-in!
Please RSVP, as space is limited.
5515 N Cumberland Ave
Suite 810
Chicago IL, 60656
Located right off of I-90 and the Cumberland Blue Line stop. Free parking is available for drivers.
Brice Puls
Logistics Director for Bit Bash Chicago and Manager of Exhibitions at VGA Gallery
Brice Puls is an interactive artist, game developer, and exhibit designer based in Chicago. They are the manager of exhibitions at VGA Gallery, developer on various indie game projects (Killer Queen Black, Tumbleseed, Young Horses), and logistics director for Bit Bash Chicago.
Jamie Sanchez
Co-Founder and Director of Voxel Collective
Jamie is a community leader, WordPress developer, graphic designer, and advocate for game developers in the Chicagoland area. Beyond Voxel Collective, she’s an organizer and co-founder for the alternative game festival Bit Bash, and she manages game dev resources ChicagoMakesGames.com and IndieBoothcraft.com.
Keisha Howard
Founder of Sugar Gamers and The BlazeBreakers
Keisha’s background of communications, psychology, and Information Technology led her to create Sugar Gamers-- An advocacy and networking group for gaming consumers and industry professionals. Through Sugar Gamers, Keisha has been able to raise awareness of the under-represented minorities in the industry and advocate to ensure corporations consider the needs of a more diverse group of consumers in their offerings. Through Sugar Gamers, Keisha empowers people as a mentor, community manager, and spokesperson for the gaming industry from her homebase in Chicago.
Missy Thomson
Manager, Diversity & Inclusion at Zynga
As an experienced HR professional, Missy Thomson has recently joined the Zynga family as the Manager of Diversity and Inclusion, sitting in our San Francisco office. Prior to Zynga, Missy was the Senior Manager of Employee Engagement and Diversity and Inclusion for CBS’ Tech Division, and started off her career as a grant writer for various non-profits.
When asked, ‘well why D&I’?, Missy says she loves to apply her knowledge and skill-sets to create and implement high-impact growth programs, that can help influence the perspective employees have towards one another and their workplace. Plus, she adds, that D&I is rich in life experience and color, and who wouldn’t want to celebrate that?
Samantha Bond, MS, CMI
Associate Program Director for Undergraduate Education - Life Science Visualization at University of Illinois at Chicago, Clinical Assistant Professor
Samantha (Sam) Bond is a Certified Medical Illustrator, Unity Certified serious game developer, and Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, where she teaches medical game development and virtual reality design. In addition to her academic research, service, and award-winning teaching, Bond serves as a board member for the International Game Developer’s Association Chicago chapter and has won awards for her serious game projects. Bond earned a Master of Science in Biomedical Visualization in 2016 and has since been exploring the intersections of healthcare, game learning, user interaction, and medical education, earning her the title of aa Women in Games Ambassador for the International Game Developer’s Association Foundation in 2017.
Women at Zynga is one of the longest standing and most active employee resource groups at Zynga. As our employee base has become more diversified, participation and membership has grown steadily since 2012. Our mission is to foster an environment that empowers women to succeed and become leaders in their careers and communities.